What the Tech? Keyboard app makes typing easier

Microsoft is helping customers of its nemesis use their iPhones more easily.

Apple competitor Microsoft is testing Word Flow, an app which enables iPhone users to more easily type on their device with one hand. Word Flow is a keyboard that rotates to fill a portion of the screen. It is curved and allows users easier access for those using the device with one hand.

Apple's move to larger, wider devices such as the iPhone 6 and 7 Plus models makes it difficult, if not impossible, for someone to write a text or Facebook post using one hand. The width of thenewer phones do not allow most people to reach all of the keys.

Word Flow's keyboard will rotate left or right depending on the preference for right- or left-handed users.

Word Flow also gives users a swipe option. Instead of tapping the keys for letters, users can swipe their finger from one letter to the other. The app uses predictive text, so it learns how the user swipes or types and which words they use most often. It then will predict which words they are trying to use.

Here's how to enable the Word Flow app on an iPhone:

· Download the app from the iTunes App Store

· In General Settings, find "keyboards" and give Word Flow access.

· When entering text for a message, Facebook post or within any other app that uses text, tap and hold the globe icon in the lower left corner of the keyboard, and you'll see the option to choose Word Flow.

Users can also customize the look of the Word Flow keyboard by opening the app and choosing a theme or create your own theme using a photo from your phone.

Microsoft released the Word Flow app only for iPhones and iPads as part of its garage experimental projects. There is no Android version. The availability of the Word Flow app is limited, and Microsoft suggests anyone who wants to use it should download it soon before they remove it from the iTunes App Store.